Meal plans for 7/8 month olds

[JoFranks01]

Hey everyone, my LO is a week away from being 8 months old and we just recently moved on to 3 meals a day. We don't eat dinner when he does as I usually time it for 5pm (so he can have bath, bottle, then bed at 7). My DH works at home until 5.30 and we find it easier to eat when the babies gone to bed anyway. I've been giving my LO yoghurt (fruit/fruit pouch and natural yoghurt) for dessert at lunch and also a dessert at dinner (the Ella's kitchen dessert pots usually) Is that too many desserts?? What meals do you give your LOs for breakfast, lunch and dinner? I need more inspiration! Feel like I'm giving him pouches every day/every other day out of convenience. Stupid mum guilt! Thanks all, first time parent so hoping someone wise comes along with suggestions 😁

Hi, my boy is now 18mo and I'm still constantly wondering what to feed him with having to arrange 3 meals and 3 snacks per day! Such a mental load.

When he was 8mo I think he was still predominantly on milk so I remember all his meals used to be in the form of ice cubes I'd frozen and I increased the number of cubes he had till he could eat a pottle worth. I generally try and get him eating what my husband and I eat but obviously set his aside before adding salt, chilli etc.

He would have (and still does have a lot of these, all with boiled veg on the side).
-Bolognaise with star pasta

• roast chicken broccoli and rice (baby rice when he was younger) mixed up -mash potato with fish and peas.

-Avocado, cucumber blended with rice or pasta.

• Chilli con carne
• mini meatballs & pasta
• mushrooms with white sauce and potato/rice/pasta
• beef stew
• chicken stew
• sausage and chickpea stew
• mild chicken or veg curry
• eggs eg. Scrambled egg/omelette & baked beans
• pasta with pesto
• deconstructed stirfry
• egg fried rice
• occasionally pancakes on a weekend for lunch

I have the whole lot on rotation and lots in the freezer. My cleaner makes us one batch meal a week so I get about 10 meals for my boy for the freezer and one adult meal for us out of it.

I only give a pudding occasionally and usually it's just yoghurt with fruit. I've never bought a specific pre made pudding from the supermarket.

I have always given food cooked from scratch but since recently going back to work and taking him out to restaurants more I've been buying M&S or Annabelle Karmel kiddie ready meals, usually the chicken curry and fish fingers. Trying to get him used to this kind of thing but he's not that keen 🙄

Forgot breakfast is always porridge or weetabix with blueberries or raspberries.

Lunch was invariably scrambled egg or tuna/salmon mashed up with a bit of cream cheese and either peas or sweetcorn. I think 8 months was around the time that I started giving reduced sugar and salt baked beans. As soon as they could feed themselves (about 9 months), lunch was picky bits like pasta salad, cheese on toast or omelette.
Dinner was usually reheated leftovers of whatever DH and I had eaten the previous evening.

Breakfast was weetabix.
Lunch we did a variety of cheese, crackers, omelette, toast, beans, scrambled egg, and some fruit. That sort of quick easy thing.
Dinner was almost always leftovers from what DH and I had had the night before. We’d just keep a small portion for her and reheat it. I always had a couple of jar meals in the cupboard for times when whatever we’d had wasn’t suitable or didn’t keep well. And she’d have yoghurt or fruit as well.

Breakfast - weetabix or toast, fruit
Lunch - sandwich/bagel with cream cheese or hummus, cubes of cheese, crudités, melty sticks
Dinner - portion of whatever we've had the night before reheated or if it's not a good reheated option I'd do fish or sausage & wedges or an omelette. Last night was curry, tonight is risotto.

I only give "pudding" after dinner - it's yogurt for my 1yo unless I've made some banana & blueberry muffins. Pancakes tonight though.

I loved pouches for the early days. So much less waste.

Breakfast is weetabix with toast
Lunch was usually something on toast or a bit of what I was having. I'd use a pouch if we were out. Sandwiches were also good for out and about.
Dinner was a pouch.

No guilt, no shame. When they were a bit older they'd have a tea I cooked for them or a bit of what we were having later on.

Thanks everyone! This is all really, really helpful. I think I had been putting a lot of pressure on myself to cook from scratch every day, but you are all making lunches and dinners sound easy so I'll follow your lead. All of your options sound so easy and simple, so I think I'll just start doing that instead! Need to get in to the better habit of reheated dinners for LO from the night before. I actually cooked a lentil dhal for us all yesterday and he had some today and loved it.

I'll stop giving proper desert for lunch and just offer fruit instead. Think I'm overloading the poor boy on excess deserts!

Thanks @Geranium1984 for all your food suggestions too, lots to use there!